Cops Clamp Down on Ontario Man Who Lit Medical Marijuana Joint at Courthouse

By
Carol Mulligan, The Sudbury Star
on August 10, 2012

Greater Sudbury Police Service arrived in at least half a dozen cruisers at the Sudbury Courthouse about 11 a.m. and apprehended Jamy MacKenzie, 27, who lit a marijuana joint during a break in a sentencing hearing on a guilty plea by Dave Sylvestre for marijuana production.

About 40 supporters, including Jamy MacKenzie, packed a small courtroom at the Superior Court of Justice to learn what penalty Sylvestre will face.

Sylvestre, 54,who ran for the Green Party in 2007 against incumbent Liberal MPP Rick Bartolucci, pleaded guilty to growing marijuana after police raided his home in February 2009 and found about $100,000 worth of the illicit substance.

His lawyer, Denis Michel, has asked for a conditional sentence for his client, saying Sylvestre grew marijuana and produced oil from it to treat his debilitating diabetes. Michel said his client says the substance was a “miracle” cure for diabetes and Sylvestre no longer needs to take conventional medications.

Crown prosecutor Denys Bradley is arguing that because of the quantity of marijuana and oil seized, Sylvestre should be sentenced to some time in jail.

The case is being heard by Justice Robbie Gordon, who is to render his decision at noon.

When supporters left the courthouse during the break, McKenzie took what he calls his medicine, a joint of marijuana.

A licensed Canadian pot grower has announced it’s teaming up with the former national chief...

Comments

13 Comments

Anonymous on
September 5, 2012 11:48 pm

wow man that is ridiculous, I hope everything works out for you..I will send some positive vibes

gutrod on
August 18, 2012 1:32 pm

Dealing with anti cannabis establishment is an exorcise in frustration. My own father, a heavy drinker who was very verbally & physically abusive to me always blamed the dis functionality in our relationship on my use of pot. He introduced me to the world of drugs at age 11 by giving me my 1st beer & encouraged drinking. This was my gateway drug to the experimentation of other drugs back in the early 70’s. Cannabis laws in N.A. are designed to frustrate the culture which will never go away. Rights are not given without a fight.

Anonymous on
August 16, 2012 5:54 am

You have got to consider why they are so rabid against marajauna. There are a lot of people who profit from keeping it illegal, lawyers, private prisons, lumber companys, oil companys, and the criminals in our government who get paid off by drug cartels to vote to keep it illegal.

Anonymous on
August 16, 2012 5:50 am

You have got to consider why they are so rabid against marajauna. There are a lot of people who profit from keeping it illegal, lawyers, private prisons, lumber companys, oil companys, and the criminals in our government who get paid off by drug cartels to vote to keep it illegal.

Anonymous on
August 16, 2012 12:04 am

I seen the video of the altercation that is on the facebook pages. In this video there is no police brutality and the crowd was obnoxious and rude. The police were courteous and were doing nothing but trying their best to control a situation that was clearly escalating out of control. If he was so concerned about his fragile health then he should have stayed home to smoke his medical cannabis. He refused help from the ambulance attendants to take interviews. I don’t know what happened before the video, but if you are going to flaunt disregard for the law then you should make sure that you have all of your information with you!

Anonymous on
August 15, 2012 4:09 am

Why can’t he smoke in the court house? He is curing everyone’s cancer in the process. It’s very simple puff puff blow and boom your cancer is gone. There is no proof indicating that it doesn’t.

Ignorance is bliss its similar to thinking that aids cannot be transferred through saliva which it can. Life is just a bundle of bullshit tossed into a washing machine and tumbled around. There is no logic in this world. Zero logic. Main stream intelligence is like a monkey eating its own poop. That’s the logic I perceive.

Anonymous on
August 14, 2012 11:26 pm

“So … you’re trying to tell us that it’s typical for half a dozen cops @ 2 per car to show up with sirens blazing to ask a tobacco smoker for their license and to step further away from the door?”

No one said this and it wasn’t in the article. First, extra police came to control the crowd. There were no sirens. It was one officer who asked to see his certificate while the other officer hung back.

What I said originally stands. I was three feet from it. I saw and heard what happened. The crowd of ‘activists’ who, like you, were full of presumption, and speculation created the scene. It is exactly attacks like ‘what kind of crack are you smoking’ that indicates the level of dis-respect you have for others who are only trying to shed light on the confusion. You want to believe that on that day there was a big conspiracy, go ahead. But your beliefs are based on fiction not fact.

Anonymous on
August 13, 2012 12:11 pm

” The man smoking the marijuana was 4 feet from the double doors to the main entrance of the courthouse. The cops couldn’t have been any more polite. They only asked to see his certificate. Seriously now..you can’t even smoke cigarettes there. ”

So … you’re trying to tell us that it’s typical for half a dozen cops @ 2 per car to show up with sirens blazing to ask a tobacco smoker for their license and to step further away from the door?

What kind of crack are you smoking, jack? Ain’t nobody buying your crap.

CanadianGiant on
August 12, 2012 10:11 pm

Since i was raided six weeks ago at my house for growing , i receved a notice last week that my home has been seized by the Integrated Proceeds of Crime Unit, even though i havn,t been convicted yet ,and i bought my home 13 years ago. Some asshole from the federal government is coming to appraise my house soon, so they can sell it, if i lose my case, within 30 days. Fuck Harper.

CanadianGiant on
August 12, 2012 10:11 pm

Since i was raided six weeks ago at my house for growing , i receved a notice last week that my home has been seized by the Integrated Proceeds of Crime Unit, even though i havn,t been convicted yet ,and i bought my home 13 years ago. Some asshole from the federal government is coming to appraise my house soon, so they can sell it, if i lose my case, within 30 days. Fuck Harper.

Anonymous on
August 12, 2012 4:44 pm

Incorrect. Smoking is a human freedom. All of the so-called law against smoking is positive law, that is, psychotic delusion. Police officers are psychotics with delusional thought disorder: they think that the fairy-stories that their employers publish are law.

A street-gang showed up to strong-arm someone into not exercising freedom—that’s all.

Anonymous on
August 11, 2012 10:56 pm

I’m sorry but you have it wrong. The man smoking the marijuana was 4 feet from the double doors to the main entrance of the courthouse. The cops couldn’t have been any more polite. They only asked to see his certificate. Seriously now..you can’t even smoke cigarettes there. People were hurling insults at the police well before the man went into his ‘seizure’. The only people who behaved badly here, and frankly, embarassed pot smokers everywhere was the crowd. The only thing they proved was that some pot smokers are classless dirt bags too.

gutrod on
August 11, 2012 6:26 pm

The offender was just venting his displeasure, making a statement so to speak. These cops were doing the dirty work of our supreme bully, Harper & Co. & their policies. They took it a bit too far though,just as they did with Mr. Emery. I suspect that the cops up in Sudbury are a bunch of cowboys who idolize George Bush & Dickie Nixon.